


God's Righteous Man

by von_gelmini



Series: Glory Hole [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Anti Steve Rogers, College Student Peter Parker, Established Relationship, Homophobia, Homophobic Language, M/M, Period-Typical Homophobia, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Rough Sex, Steve Rogers and the 21st Century
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-02
Updated: 2019-11-02
Packaged: 2021-01-16 16:54:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21274550
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/von_gelmini/pseuds/von_gelmini
Summary: Peter shot Tony a look over his shoulder. “Don’t you dare say he’s right. Don’t you dare.”





	God's Righteous Man

**Author's Note:**

> We're ignoring certain bits of IM3 canon. I hate the way Pepper kinda manipulated Tony into getting rid of the arc reactor and having open heart surgery. So those things never happened. And eventually their relationship fell apart, like it had by the time Civil War happened.
> 
> We're also assuming that Steve Rogers is a man of his era. And while he's living in the 21st century, some ingrained prejudices still remain.
> 
> Infinity War, Endgame, Far From Home? I don't know her.

Sunday morning was lazy. Peter and Tony slept in until almost ten. Their kisses were soft and light. Tony was allowing Peter to touch him, to run his hand down the man’s side, across his chest, over his back. He loved the feel of Tony’s skin and the strong solidness of his body. Tony rarely indulged him like this. They were both hard, though nothing was done about that. It usually wasn’t during times like this. Peter always waited for Tony’s permission to jerk off. It was wordless, but he’d learned the signs that Tony gave to let him do it. Those signs weren’t coming, but that was okay. Tony was letting him touch him and that was better than coming.

He saw Tony smirking down at him. Aware of what he was letting Peter do and of how it was affecting him, or so Peter thought. Which left him totally unsuspecting when Tony grabbed his thigh and flipped him onto his stomach.

“Get that ass up,” Tony growled, suddenly very awake and not feeling lazy at all. 

Peter heard the lube being opened and felt Tony kneeling between his legs as he raised his hips. Not enough, apparently because with one hand, Tony pulled his ass up higher and with the other, he pushed Peter’s neck down, flattening his chest to the mattress.

“You made yourself hard. You’ve made  _ me  _ hard with those soft hands of yours. Something has to be done about that, Petey-pie.”

Peter looked over his shoulder. Tony’s eyes were dark with desire, his expression firm and in control. But…  _ tender _ ? He didn’t know what to make of the confliction he saw there. But his answer… he already knew that. He met Tony’s hard gaze with softness. He breathed heavily, preparing himself for what was coming. “Yes, Tony.” 

Tony had fucked him several times since that first time in the workshop. Peter knew what to expect. He knew it would hurt at first, but he knew that it would be amazing before the end. This time, same as always, it hurt when Tony entered him. Being invaded, taken, forced open, used was exactly what Peter wanted. It made him want to give himself over. But behind the pleasurable pain, there was a resistance he couldn’t get rid of, no matter how much he wanted to. He moved away from Tony instead of toward him, afraid of something. The frustration of his inability to surrender brought tears to his eyes even as he moaned in pleasure at the man’s rough entry. He couldn’t find his ‘place of peace’, as Tony had called it.

Tony started moving, started fucking him. It was hard and fast and rough. He fought to help Tony fuck him, pushing back, grinding his hips, then struggling with the pain as Tony grabbed him, controlled him, trying to make Peter stop, trying to make him yield. 

He closed his eyes. Peace seemed far, far away. Chased there by fear. He couldn’t even say what he was afraid of. Not the pain. He always, eventually, found his way around the pain. But there was another kind of hurt that he didn’t have words for.

Tony knew. “Peter. Peter. You can get there baby,” Tony said calmly. He bent over the boy’s back. He was buried deep, but he stopped moving. He whispered in Peter’s ear. “I promise, I will never hurt you again like I did.” 

Was that it? Was that what he was afraid of? There was only one thing Peter was ever afraid of. That Tony would set him aside. The things Tony said to him that time… the anger Peter heard in his voice… the way his words objected to him being there, being a part of his life. Tony knew he’d been hurt in a way other than with his body. And he promised.

As Tony knelt back between Peter’s legs, he ran his hand down the boy’s back, firmly but gently, until with both hands he grabbed Peter’s hips hard. “Give yourself to me, Peter,” he said, his voice returning to what it had been before. “You know I’ll take what you need.”

The struggle left him. Peter loved it when Tony phrased it like that. Not ‘I’ll  _ give  _ you what you need’ because that wasn’t the way things were. It wasn’t the way he wanted it. But during the course of Tony taking what he wanted, Peter knew that what needed would be there. Because it wasn’t just an orgasm that Peter needed. It was for Tony to take his complete surrender. To appreciate it for what it meant. 

Peter wasn’t chasing his own pleasure, but it was there, building within him, as he let Tony use him. Tony had a firm grip on his hips and was moving Peter up and down his cock, fucking himself with his ass. Peter was moaning and panting. His cock was aching but every time he got close, Tony changed things on him. He whimpered high pitched and even though he wanted to beg, he didn’t. There was nothing but the man’s name on his lips. Panted loudly, on breathy moans, screamed with delight, whispered almost worshipfully. Just ‘Tony’ over and over again as he came closer to falling over the edge.

“I’m going to take that from you, Peter,” he said, holding Peter’s hips still and fucking hard into him. “I’m going to take your orgasm. It isn’t yours, baby.”

“Everything, Tony,” Peter panted on quick and heavy breaths. “Everything I am is yours.”

Tony set up a steady rhythm, loosening his grip on Peter’s hips, He ran his hand possessively over the rise of the boy’s ass. He felt Peter tighten around him, listened to his gasping moans, and fucked the boy through his orgasm, not letting up but keeping that steady pace. When he felt the last quakes pass through Peter’s body, Tony used a position they hadn’t before. He wrapped his arm around Peter’s waist and pulled him up to sit in his lap. He thrust up into him and groaned against his back sliding a kiss, open mouthed, tasting Peter’s skin. Using both arms, he brought the boy close, holding him tightly, running the flat of his hands over his front. Closer, closer still. Holding him almost too tightly, until he felt his chest against Peter’s shoulder blades, knowing that being so close was pressing the cool metal of the arc reactor into the boy’s back. He thrust hard again and came inside Peter.

When he stopped shaking, when he knew he had himself, his expression, and his emotions under control, he sat cross legged on the bed and pulled Peter into his lap. This was the way they always finished. Peter in his lap, Tony taking care of him. Things passing wordlessly between them, carried on light kisses, gentle caresses. Peter clung to Tony when he came back to himself. Tony hesitated to break the hold and move to the cleaning up phase. Peter was turning to him, needing him, wanting Tony to be the one he gave himself to. He gave his entire self to him, as if Tony was worthy enough to have him. As if he trusted Tony not to defile him.

Tony wasn’t one for dealing with things. If he fucked up, his main solution was to kick the person to the curb so the issue never had to be confronted. If they stayed, he’d pretend like nothing had happened. If they pushed the issue even a little bit, he’d become surly and uncommunicative until the other person shut up. But Tony knew almost immediately after he’d done it, that he’d fucked up with Peter. He never should’ve let someone stay with him while he was working — that’s what he blamed it on, but it wasn’t. He knew it was his fault. He’d hurt the one person he never wanted to hurt. On the surface, it looked like he was always hurting Peter. But that kind of hurt was something that they both wanted. The other kind of hurt… Tony had lost control. He’d taken out on Peter things that were wrong in his life. So Tony did something he never did. He apologized.

Tony brushed Peter’s hair away from his face. It encouraged him to look up. “Let’s get you cleaned up,” Tony said finally, putting a light kiss on Peter’s lips and smiling at him.

After their shower, Peter checked his phone’s notifications. MJ and Ned had left at least a dozen messages each. Apparently he and Tony were front page news on the Post, and written up in at least half the tabloids in the city. They sat at the table and checked the online versions of the papers. They laughed at the ridiculous variations on ‘Tony Stark comes out’ about their date last night. 

“I’ve always been out,” Tony said. “I just told Pepper a few years ago to stop covering things up. That always drove me crazy. The way my image got manipulated. You’re not the first guy I’ve gone out with, just the first one since then. I never wanted to make a big deal out of it, but I never wanted to hide it either.”

“You’ve always been out and I was in the closet.” Peter laughed. “That’s a weird switch on it. I’m not in the closet anymore, I guess.”

Tony looked concerned. “Is that okay.”

“Coming out by being your boyfriend? Yeah. That’s very okay.” Peter looked at his phone again. “MJ and Ned are kinda going nuts over it though. Is it okay if I go to lunch with them?”

“Absolutely. Though I thought we could go out to a late dinner tonight. Throw some more fuel on the fire,” Tony said with a grin. “Show off my boyfriend a little bit more.”

Peter did something he’d never done. It made him nervous. There were butterflies in his stomach, flying around a knot of fear, but he did it anyway. He gave Tony a peck on the cheek when he stood up. Tony didn’t react to it anymore that Peter reacted to it when Tony gave him one. It felt like it happened all the time. Which was absolutely perfect.

“So when were you going to tell us?” Ned asked as they sat down. 

“You’re going out with Tony Stark?” MJ added.

“It’s kind of a new thing. Us going out, I mean. We’ve been together for about eight months.”

“Eight months? And you didn’t tell us?” MJ said.

Peter shrugged. “I didn’t know what to tell you. Things weren’t exactly clear before last night. Not even when I moved in last week.”

“You’ve been living there?” Ned said in disbelief. “Up at the top of Stark Tower?”

“I’d been staying there a lot anyway. Tony just moved me in.”

MJ furrowed her brow at the way Peter said that, trying to figure out what was wrong about it. “Things looked pretty clear in the Post this morning.”

Peter smiled. “He said I’m his boyfriend. He even told everyone at the party. So that’s why it’s finally okay to tell you guys. I know where things stand now.”

“Welcome to the one percent, dude,” Ned teased.

“I never thought of it that way.”

“Well he apparently did,” MJ said, picking up Peter’s wrist and looking at his watch. “You go out with that thing on without a body guard?”

Peter laughed. “I kinda didn’t want to take it off. He inscribed it for me and I kinda love it. It’s gorgeous.”

“For at least a million dollars, it should be,” MJ said.

“Really? I mean I knew it had to be expensive but…” 

“In my design class last semester, we had to create an ad campaign for a luxury product. My group got a watch. It looked a little like that one. Not as much showing the insides as yours, but it was worth a million and a half. Our ad was supposed to convince the rich that it was worth throwing away enough money to feed a hundred homeless people for a year. So yeah, going out without a body guard on that thing.”

“It’s just something Tony got me to wear to the party last night,” Peter explained. “He gets me things sometimes. It’s never a big deal, he just does it. I never ask for it.”

“Not doing much to dispel the sugar baby thing,” Ned said grinning.

“I saw that in the papers.” Peter smiled. “You can’t control what the tabloids are going to print. I don’t care. I know I’m not that and he knows I’m not that. That’s all that matters. They wrote a lot of worse things about him. He’s just letting them do it instead of having the company cover it up.”

“So Tony Stark came out as well as you,” MJ said.

“He was always out. He just never had control of what got printed. SI’s PR department handled that. I’m just the first guy he’s dated since he told them to stop.”

“What’s it like living there? You gonna invite us to see how the other half lives?” Ned asked.

“Yeah. I just have to check with Tony first.”

“I thought you lived there. You can’t have people up without his permission?” MJ’s furrowed brow returned.

“I live there, but so does he. And he works there. I need to check that he doesn’t have something planned or that it’s not a heavy work day. I moved in with Tony, not the other way around.” Peter shrugged. “It’s complicated.”

“Relationships shouldn’t be ‘complicated’,” MJ said, disapproval in her tone.

“Ours is.” Peter smiled. “But it’s good. Really good.”

“Dude, you’re in love with Tony Stark,” Ned said, smiling back.

“Okay. Yeah. Maybe. Yeah.” Peter looked down and blushed.

“Is he in love with you?” MJ asked.

“It’s…”

“Complicated?” she finished for him.

“You don’t get to be Tony Stark and Iron Man without a lot of complications in your life.”

“Yeah, but you’re Spider-Man,” Ned whispered.

“And no one knows that. I get to live my life without everyone looking at me, Peter Parker. It’s easier. I mean look at the shit some of the papers wrote about him today. He has to live with that all the time. He’s acting like it isn’t, but it is kind of a big deal. It’s going to affect Stark Industries. He has to worry about that too.”

“Dude, you’re living with him, he’s your boyfriend, and you’ve only been together for eight months. You’re just taking it slow,” Ned said.

“It just doesn’t sound very balanced,” MJ said.

“It’s not,” Peter said a little too snappishly. “I don’t want it to be.”

“If you’re okay with that and you know that’s the way it is upfront.” MJ shrugged. 

The waiter brought the check and Peter slipped his card under the tray’s clip.

“Did he give you that?” MJ asked.

“Yes. He doesn’t have time to take me shopping. And it’s not like he’s with me every time I go out.”

“I’m just surprised the card isn’t black.” Ned laughed. “My dude has a billionaire boyfriend.” 

“He’s a billionaire,” MJ said distastefully. “Those billions were made in some pretty awful ways.”

“Tony took Stark Industries out of weapons years ago.”

“But his wealth was built on them. There’s blood on that card.”

Peter signaled the waiter and asked him to split MJ’s part of the bill off of it. “Unless you have objections too,” he asked, looking at Ned.

“Nah man. I don’t ever turn down a free lunch.”

“MJ, if you’re my friend, you’re going to see me with pants and shirts and shoes and books and gifts and living in a place with blood on all of it. I’m not turning down the things Tony gives me and I’m not leaving him.”

MJ put the money for her portion of the bill on the tray and stood. “Goodbye Peter.”

Peter watched her walk away, stunned. “I… Wow.”

“Dude, you know she’s always been political.”

“I suppose you’re next,” Peter said sadly.

“I don’t even vote, man,” Ned laughed and clapped his hand on Peter’s shoulder.

Peter left the restaurant and headed home. He was upset about losing MJ as a friend, but the thought of the penthouse being home still made his heart skip a beat. Home was with Tony. They lived together. He was his boyfriend. It didn’t matter how complicated their relationship was, there were parts of it that were blissfully uncomplicated. 

His daydream evaporated. He could hear the yelling before the elevator even reached the penthouse floor. As soon as the doors opened, Peter tossed his backpack across the room. 

“He’s half your age, Tony,” Steve shouted. He was standing, hovering near Tony who was sitting on a dining chair, looking defeated. “You knew him when he was a  _ child _ . I always knew you were devoid of morality, but this is perverted even for you. Grooming a vulnerable kid who hero worships you to become your… I don’t even want to say what!”

Peter strode with deliberateness to stand in the narrow space between Steve and Tony. “His fucktoy? Is that the word you were looking for? But you can’t bring yourself to say the word fuck, can you? Do you even fuck at all, Captain America? Because let me tell you, having Tony Stark’s huge cock up your ass is an experience not to be missed. Surpassed only by the way it feels when he fucks your face and comes down your throat.”

Steve blanched. “Do you see what he’s become because of you?” He pushed past Peter. Or tried to.

Peter reached out his hand, put it squarely on the silver star in the middle of Steve’s chest, and pushed him back, away from Tony. “‘He’ is right here. ‘He’ is old enough to make his own fucking life choices. You have no say in whose dick I suck. You jealous, Cap? How long has it been since you got yours wet? I can recommend a place. I’d offer, but all my cocksucking time is very happily taken.”

Steve tried to break Peter’s hold on him. Peter twisted his fist into the cloth of Steve’s suit and kept him still. “You might’ve been able to lay me out when I was fifteen, but I’m not fifteen anymore.”

“If the world found out what you’re doing to that boy…” Steve looked at Tony from around Peter’s arm.

“The world already knows. Everyone at the party knows. They saw us walk out of the closet behind the bar. I had a blissed out ‘I’ve just been fucked’ look on my face. My lips were swollen red from having Tony’s cock in my mouth. The world doesn’t give a shit.” Peter yanked Steve back when he tried to break free and rush Tony. “Stop struggling. I am not letting you go any farther than where you are right now. I will web you up and hang you from the ceiling like a fucking fly. Since I’ve been taking chemistry in college, you’ll find that my webs are a lot stronger than they were in Berlin.”

“Peter, stop,” Tony said quietly. 

“Why?” Peter shot Tony a look over his shoulder. “Don’t you dare say he’s right. Don’t you dare.” He turned back to Steve. “You wanna know how Tony and I got together? It wasn’t when I was fifteen. Or even seventeen, which is legal age in New York. It was eight months ago while I was twenty. I turn twenty-one in two months by the way. I was hanging out at the glory hole, sucking cock on the weekends because I wanted to suck cock. You wanna know how many dicks I could suck over the course of two nights? One very busy weekend it was eleven. Whoever stuck their cock in the hole, I sucked it. I had no idea who it was.”

“I’m sorry you had to do that. Kids your age sometimes have to do desperate things for money. I know that. It makes you easy prey for men like him,” he pointed angrily at Tony.

“For  _ money _ ? I am not a whore!” Peter said, furiously. “I suck cock because I  _ like _ sucking cock. Didn’t you have… what did you call us back in the forties… queers? fags?… back then? Oh right. Most of you tough soldier boys used to just beat the crap out of guys like me and leave us for dead on the street. Must’ve been a hell of a culture shock finding out that we’re not afraid of you anymore.”

“Peter, Steve’s not like that,” Tony interrupted.

“Really? He’d rather believe that I whored myself out for money than that I’m gay.”

“You were a vulnerable child when you met Stark. Being exposed to the kind of life he leads — although I thought it was just women he used — led you to think it was all right to do these sorts of things.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “Tony, I am not going to put up with his homophobic crap. Why are you willing to do it?”

“Because he knows I’m right, kid,” Steve said.

“Peter, you’re an Avenger. I’m an Avenger. He’s the leader of the Avengers,” Tony explained.

“When I tell everyone else…” Steve started.

“You think a bunch of people living in the twenty-first century are going to listen to your bullshit?” Peter pushed Steve away hard enough that he went sprawling on his ass. “Call them. Let’s see how they all feel about it. Wait.” Peter kept his eyes fixed on Steve’s face, looking for any indication that he was going to attack again. “I’ll call them.” He pulled out his StarkPhone and hit a speed dial number. “There. Code Red. That call goes out to all the Avengers to meet here for a mission. I can’t wait for them to hear that you called me a  _ whore _ .”

Tony sighed. “This isn’t going to go the way you think it is, Peter.”

“Why?” Peter asked, looking back at Tony.

“He pulled the wool over your eyes,” Steve said. “You’re young. But every one of us knows what Stark is.”

“Really? That ballistic shielding in your suit? Who created the nanofibers to make it thin enough that you could still fight  _ and  _ not worry about bullet holes? A Stark. Who fucking created you, Rogers? A Stark.”

“Howard would be disgusted if he knew what his son became. How he corrupted you.”

Tony visibly flinched. Peter saw it and shot out a clump of webbing over Steve’s mouth. “Shut the fuck up.” Peter went to stand between Tony’s legs and wrapped an arm around his neck. He stared back at Steve. “You have no idea whether or not Howard Stark was a bigoted asshole like you. You were in the ice. I read that he worked in Hollywood as a movie producer. Us queers were all over the place in Hollywood back then. He wouldn’t have been able to shoot a single reel of film without a queer on his set. He might not have mentioned it, but I doubt working there he stayed like you.” 

Tony’s eyes widened. He never thought about things from the perspective Peter just gave. His father never mentioned anything in either direction about gay people. Tony just assumed that his father would hate him if he knew that he liked boys as well as girls. But Tony never told him, so he really had no idea what his father’s reaction would’ve been.

Steve started to get up. Peter shot a quick-hardening web over each of Steve’s legs. “You’re going to sit there and wait for everyone to get here.”

“Peter, you shouldn’t have. I’ve…” Tony shook his head. “I’ve never seen you like this.”

“Tony, do you think he’s right?” Peter sat on Tony’s knee. “Am I a whore? A victim?”

He sighed and rested his forehead against Peter’s chest for a moment. “You know I don’t think that. But…”

“But what, Tony?” Peter’s breath shook and his eyes started to well up. “I thought… I thought I knew what I was to you. Did you lie to me?”

“I don’t lie,” Tony said, staring hotly at Steve. 

“You said I was Tony Stark’s boyfriend.”

“You are, baby, but…”

Peter leaned back and looked at Tony. “But what?” 

Steve was trying to claw the webbing off his face. Peter glared at him. “I will shoot you again but with the stuff on your legs this time.”

Rhodey was the first to arrive, given that he could fly there. He took in the scene. “What the hell?”

Peter smiled wanly. “Hi Colonel Rhodes. Did you see the Post this morning?”

Rhodes chuckled. “Yeah. That was a good shot for a change, Tones. Peter, you looked nice.”

“Thank you,” Peter said

“I didn’t know the two of you were going public.”

“There was a thing. Tony invited me. It was pretty fantastic, actually.”

“So… Not to ignore the elephant in the room but…”

“Oh. Captain Rogers thinks I’m a whore because I like to suck cock.”

“Wha…”

“Yeah, I’m some poor neglected urchin who turned to cocksucking because I had no money,” Peter explained. “Tony found me in a den of iniquity. He’s been abusing me ever since and turned me into a pervert because without his influence I would’ve been straight.” 

Rhodey shook his head trying to wrap it around what Peter had just said. “Peter, you’re gay. I know you haven’t come out yet. Or, well, hadn’t until last night. But most of us already figured that out.” He laughed. “As for him, I’ve known he was bi since we were at MIT together. That still doesn’t explain why you have Cap webbed to the floor.”

“I got tired of listening to him be homophobic. He seems to think that the rest of you will agree with him.”

Sam, Vision, and Wanda landed next. “The others are in the helicopter,” Vision explained and then noticed Steve on the floor.

Sam noticed as well. “What the hell’s going on?”

Peter sighed. “If I’m going to have to explain this to each of you separately, I’d rather just wait until you’re all here.”

Clint, Nat, and Bruce arrived in the helicopter, each with their own take on ‘what the fuck’ when they saw Steve.

Peter shot a stream of web dissolving fluid at Steve’s mouth. “I’m not willing to let him up because I’m afraid he’ll attack me or Tony.” Which brought another round of disbelieving stares. “Captain Rogers has a problem with me being gay. He thinks that the only reason I’m gay is because I was forced into prostitution by my poor upbringing and that Tony preyed on my unfortunate plight. That if it wasn’t for Tony, I’d be some pure perfect little straight boy.”

“I never said that,” Steve objected.

Peter shot him a look. “You said I was a whore!”

“Wait… you and Tony…” Bruce said, puzzled.

Nat rolled her eyes. “I’m surprised it took them this long. You could cut the sexual tension with a knife.” She smiled at Peter. “You looked good together. Headline news.”

“Thanks Ms. Widow.”

“Okay,” Clint said, “but where’s the mission? That was a red alert you sent out.”

“I’m sorry,” Peter said sheepishly. “I got tired of listening to Steve tell me how much all of you would hate that Tony and I are together. Of him telling me that I’m some kind of victim because we’re together. That I’m some kind of  _ whore _ because I like to suck cock.”

“Whoa, kid, TMI,” Clint said laughing.

“I fail to see the difficulty,” Vision said, looking at everyone in the room. “Mr. Parker is gay. Mr. Stark is bisexual. Both are consenting adults.”

“Tony’s more than twice Peter’s age,” Steve pointed out. “He was his mentor. They met while Peter was still a child. It’s sick the way he’s taken advantage of the kid.”

Wanda furrowed her brow. A soft cloud of red came from her fingers and went to Peter’s head. “I feel no sign that Peter was taken advantage of.” She blushed. “They’re… Forgive me. That’s private.”

Peter smiled and his blush matched Wanda’s own. 

“Tony,” Bruce said, “are you happy with him? You deserve a little happiness in your life.”

“Everything was fine until America’s Ass showed up this afternoon,” Tony said.

“You mean you called a code red because Peter’s gay?” Clint said in disbelief. “And because he and Tony have a thing?”

“I guess I’m supposed to put up with it,” Peter said. “He’s from a different era. But how much am I supposed to put up with? I’ve read a LGBT history book or two. I know what people from his time did to guys like me. We got committed to mental hospitals. We were beaten and abused and called… things. Am I supposed to put up with that because he’s from a different time?”

“I never called you that,” Steve said. “I never called anyone that, even back then.”

“No,” Peter said staring at Steve again. “You just called me a whore.”

Nat came over and put her hand on Peter’s shoulder. “I’m sorry he said that to you Peter.”

“Cap’s wrong about Peter, but not about me.” Tony sighed. “I took advantage of him.”

“Tony if you don’t stop it, I’m about to get TMI all up in this bitch in front of everybody.”

“Peter, I never should’ve let what was anonymous leave that place.”

“So all of this… all of  _ us _ … the past eight months… me moving in with you… that’s all been a mistake?” Peter swallowed hard and big, silent tears rolled down his face.

“Peter,” Steve said, his voice dripping with concern. “If you’re  _ like that _ , you should be with someone your own age who’s like that as well.”

Rhodey looked down at Steve. “Wait.  _ Like that _ ? What does that mean?”

“You know what it means, Colonel. You’re in the military,” Steve explained.

“Yes, I do know. I’m old enough to remember when gay men and women were dishonorably discharged and had their lives ruined for no other reason than that they were gay. Now, they serve openly and honorably by my side. Many of them died to keep this country safe, both then and now.”

“Cap, you know I’m with you,” Sam said, shaking his head. “But Colonel Rhodes is right. Don’t ask, don’t tell is over. If Peter wanted to, he could join the service and not have to hide the fact that he’s gay. Is the age gap a little…?” Sam shrugged. “Sure. But either it’ll work out or it won’t and they’ll move on.”

“Are we finished here? If I fly us back to the compound, I can just about make it home in time to eat dinner with my family,” Clint said. Everyone except Colonel Rhodes left the living room for the helipad and took off for upstate. 

Peter leaned up and gave Rhodey a peck on the cheek. “Thank you Colonel Rhodes.”

Rhodey chuckled. “Sure thing, kid.” He clapped Tony on the shoulder. “He’s good for you, Tones. Don’t fuck it up.”

“All right, platypus,” Tony said before Rhodey took off from the suit pad.

Peter shot a stream of dissolving fluid at Steve’s legs. “Are we clear now, Captain Rogers?” he said coldly. “You are done coming at Tony. He might still have respect for you, but I have absolutely none. This is our home. I live here now. FRIDAY?”

“Yes Peter?”

“Revoke Captain Rogers’ access to the penthouse levels. Avengers meetings are to take place in the meeting room below ours.”

“Yes Peter. Access revoked.”

Steve stood but hesitated to leave. Peter looked straight at him. “You can go now.”

Once Steve left, Peter wrapped his arms around Tony, buried his face in the man’s neck, and started to cry. Not just tears, but great heaving sobs, released now that his adrenaline was gone.

Tony slid off the chair with Peter and pulled him into his lap, the same way they sat after a particularly intense bout of sex. He soothed him, kissing him lightly on his head and face.

“I suppose you want me to leave,” Peter said quietly once he’d stopped crying.

“Why would I want that?”

“I caused trouble with the Avengers. You and Steve were friends.”

Tony snorted derisively. “I was thoroughly disabused of that notion when he left me for dead in Siberia.”

“What?” Peter sat back and looked at Tony with shock.

“It’s not important,” Tony said with a dismissive shrug. 

“It sounds pretty important.”

“It all worked out fine,” Tony said, hoping that would be the last of the subject. Peter kept staring at him, waiting for more. “Steve didn’t know what happened once he left me there. He took off with Barnes and T’Challa to Wakanda. Steve and Barnes wiped the floor with me when I found out that Barnes was the one who killed my mom. After the fight, my suit was dead weight around me. Without a functioning arc reactor, there wasn’t enough power to operate the auto release. The police came to get Zemo. By then I’d pulled myself up what was left of the stairs so they found me. I had a replacement arc reactor in Berlin and I was back in time to get you home to May.” Tony paused, perhaps a little too long. “I’ve never told anyone, on the team or off it, what happened in Siberia.”

“Wait…” Peter was trying to work out all the things Tony was telling him. One thing stood out. “A replacement arc reactor?”

Tony closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Yeah. These things are strong,” he said, tapping the device under his shirt, “but not stronger than a vibranium shield.”

“He…  _ broke _ your arc reactor? You had to fly all the way from Russia to Berlin without a working one? Did he know you need that to live?”

Tony laughed bitterly. “Don’t think he particularly gave a damn at the time.” 

Peter bent down and put a kiss on Tony’s shirt, over the arc reactor. 

“I’m suddenly not thrilled about being an Avenger, if it means I have to obey him.”

“Cap’s good in the field. The team needs a single voice to listen to during battle,” Tony explained.

Peter shook his head. “I’ll just stay here in New York. I wish you would too. I don’t trust him with your life.”

“We’ve worked together since Siberia. It hasn’t been a problem.”

“Then I guess I’ll stay an Avenger.”

“Why?” Tony asked. “If you don’t want to, you don’t have to. You can keep doing your neighborhood thing.”

Peter wrapped his arms around Tony’s chest. “Because I don’t want you to get killed by friendly fire.”

Tony stroked Peter’s hair. “Things aren’t always that simple.”

“I know that. I’m not a kid anymore. There’s a lot of shades of gray in the world.” He couldn’t bring himself to let go of Tony. “But some things  _ are _ simple.” He kissed Tony’s neck. “My villain origin story? If he ever hurts you again.” Tony chuckled and the rumble of it through the man’s chest reassured Peter.

Tony turned Peter’s face up and kissed him, long and slow and passionately, as he very, very rarely did. “Are you still mine?” he whispered across the boy’s lips.

“Always, Tony,” he said with absolute certainty. But then Peter faltered. What he wanted to say was terrifying. He ducked his head and curled tightly in on himself in Tony’s lap. The position put his face right next to Tony’s arc reactor. “Are you mine, Tony?” Peter whispered against the glowing machine.

Tony bent his head and brushed his lips through Peter’s soft hair. “I…” He paused. He felt himself about to say ‘I can’t’ again. “Yes, Peter,” he whispered instead.

Some things were best said as whispers. “I won’t ever hurt you.” He uncurled and looked up at Tony. He caressed the man’s cheek, trailed his fingers over the line of his jaw, then along his finely shaped beard. He put one finger over Tony’s lips as the man had done to him once before. He held in any objections Tony might make. “I love you.”

Tony picked Peter up and carried him to the bedroom. On the bed, fully clothed, they both laid on their sides, facing each other. He kept touching Peter, the way Peter had been touching him that morning. He moved them closer, tucking Peter’s head against his chest, and Peter began touching him in return. They lay together silently, just holding each other, for a long time. Finally, he tilted Peter’s face up and kissed him. Passionately, lightly, gently, roughly. Every kind of kiss he’d wanted to give the boy but held himself back from doing. For the first time Peter didn’t just yield, he met Tony’s kisses and returned them hungrily. And Tony found that didn’t mind it at all.

Emotions had run high, adrenaline had run hard, the day had taken a lot out of both of them. In each others arms, they drifted off into a light sleep. When Peter woke, his life felt like his own again. Tony was laying there, looking like he’d been watching Peter sleep. 

Peter leaned up and kissed Tony lightly. “Hi.” 

“Hi baby.” Tony ran his hand through Peter’s mussed up hair. “Better?”

“I’m with you. Of course I’m better.”

“Still want to go out to dinner with me?” Tony asked.

“Yeah. The world can go fuck itself.”

Tony laughed as he got up to change out of his rumpled clothes. “You’re going to have to go somewhere you like and get a couple of nice suits. But tonight we can go casual.”

Peter got up to change as well. “Okay. There are some guys at school who always seem to dress nice. I’ll ask them about it.” He was getting ready, standing in front of the mirror, when Tony came up and turned him to face him.

Tony ran his hand through Peter’s carefully combed hair and messed it up, making the boy’s curls all untamed. “Peter.” He leaned down and kissed Peter’s forehead, and then his temple. He whispered in the boy’s ear, “You’re precious to me.” He cupped the back of Peter’s head and the toe-curling kiss left them both breathless. Tony rearranged Peter’s curly hair until he thought it was exactly right. He grinned. “Gotta make sure the paps get how sexy you are and what a lucky man I am.”

Peter could hardly walk straight when they went down to the garage to get into the car. He was too distracted, floating above the entire world. He was precious to Tony. Nothing else mattered.

**Author's Note:**

> I thought this series was finished with this story. It's not. There's going to be one more after this. There are still unresolved issues that need resolving... so... on it goes. :)
> 
> * * *
> 
> My Starker blog on tumblr is [starker-stories](https://starker-stories.tumblr.com/).  
Come on by and visit.


End file.
